A Belgian bishop said the president of the bishops' conference urged Catholics to respect a court judgment against him for failing to act on allegations of abuse.

However, Auxiliary Bishop Jean Kockerols of Mechelen-Brussels also said the ruling provoked concern that it could spur more claims for damages, and he said it would take a while for the church to regain credibility.

Free from prison and living under house arrest since a December 2013 court ruling, Msgr. William Lynn's freedom appeared to be in jeopardy again.

The case of the former secretary for clergy of the Philadelphia archdiocese, the highest-ranking church official in the archdiocese convicted of a crime connected to the clergy sexual abuse crisis, took a dramatic turn Monday when the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned a lower court's ruling that had released him on bail.